Real Estate Blog of Larry Wenglin

How Small Is Too Small?

After writing about enormous over-the-top penthouse condos in the city, I thought it might be nice to mention the other side of living in the city.

“Micro Condos”

I have sold some pretty small (but still nice) homes in my time. My personal record is a 330 square foot studio apartment at 56 Commonwealth Ave. in the heart of the Back Bay that I sold 3 times as follows!

October, 2002 $229,000
July, 2004 $214,000
August, 2006 $245,000

A 340 square foot renovated studio on the third floor of 56 Comm. Ave. just sold for $281,000 in case you wondering how much it might cost you to own one of these babies today.

The most amazing micro-condo that I could find is in Hong Kong. It is 344 square feet of hip environmentally friendly space that transforms through the use of sliding walls and slide-out furniture:

“Tiny Houses”

While I have never sold one of these, I recently learned that there is a new movement dedicated to living in exceptionally small houses. These are not mobile homes but real houses that are typically between 100 and 130 square feet in size and are very often illegal because they are not even large enough to meet local building codes. In Massachusetts, for example, a home that houses one person must have at least 150 square feet of habitable space.